Wednesday, July 21, 2021

I freely admit that I called this one wrong. After spending a couple of days mulling things over, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said there was no way in hell Jim Jordan and Jim Banks would serve on the House Select Committee looking into the who’s and why’s of the Jan. 6 Great American Temper Tantrum. I figured the Distinguished Lady from California would go along to get along and, instead, had some political kung fu in mind with Colorado Rep. and GOP nullifidian Liz Cheney.

Ah, but I underestimated the House Speaker. Jordan and Banks, if you’ll recall, were among 139 House Republicans who voted to not certify the November 2020 election results because it meant Trump would no longer be president. Even though there was no evidence then, nor has any come to light, that the election was anything but on the up-and-up, a not-insignificant portion of the GOP sees Trump as the new Reagan, if you will. Indeed, until he got called to the Mar-a-Lago carpet and disciplined, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was one of those criticizing the Former Guy for not accepting the country’s decision like a big boy.

Now, remember earlier in the year when attempts by Pelosi to set up an independent, bipartisan National Committee – with panelists from outside the House picked by both parties – like what we had for 9/11. However, GOP petulance scuttled that, giving all decision-making power to the Speaker. Indeed, under House Resolution 503, passed back at the end of June, gives Pelosi the ability to appoint 14 Representatives with five chosen by the House Minority Leader. However, Pelosi has veto power as voted by the House.

So, Pelosi scuttled Banks and Jordan but agreed to allow Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, and Troy Nehls of Texas. That last guy signed onto a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging election results in four states that were not Texas. However, Banks is demanding the Jan. 6 commission go into the unrest during the summer protests even though those had nothing at all to do with the GATT. Jodan’s just a Trump toady who stays in the news because he spends all his time being a dickhole who can’t wear a suit jacket.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Minority Leader McCarthy threw a fit and threatened to pull all his choices off the committee. Along with Jordan and Banks, they got all shitty about Pelosi doing just what was in her power and claiming it was just a partisan attack squad. He’s even threatened to hold his own hearings without Democratic involvement, but no word if there’d be gambling and hookers.

Now, here’s the clever part. With Cheney on board – and she is onboard – the Select Committee still has a quorum and is still bipartisan. In fact, Cheney has gone on record supporting Pelosi’s decision and calling McCarthy’s actions “despicable.” While it is upsetting the Former Guy, Cheney and fellow apostate Adam Kinzinger of Illinois have been the loudest anti-Trump voices in the House GOP. It’s not pleasing the punters back home but it is swelling their campaign chests for future runs, possibly outside the House.

So, this is supposed to kick into gear next year and should be a lot of fun to watch. Before I go, I want to note the rather stunning 180 Congress Republicans and some Fox News talking heads have pulled in re: vaccinations for COVID-19. They’ve spent the last month or so claiming all sorts of dumb shit, mostly to scuttle Biden’s plans for 70% national vaccination by July 4.

However, that brilliant strategy has backfired hugely. The Delta variant is about to sit on our face and fart, say the double domes, and it will have a rougher impact on groups of people who weren’t as vulnerable to the original strain. Namely, younger adults and children are the most vulnerable to this strain. We could have avoided this, but anti-vax sentiment pushed by Republican poobahs has made us especially at risk.

Of course, all this is being done because Wall Street is freaking out about the incoming mess we’ll possibly find ourselves in by the end of the summer. This could’ve been avoided, though. Never forget that. Republicans won’t take responsibility for it, but they could’ve helped us avoid this and didn’t.

So, good job, there.